Oct 28, 2013

Golden Yellow Soldier and Ondel-Ondel

The yellow soldier is a part of human
statue community in Jakarta. Several human statues in different roles can be
seen in Jakarta famous public places like Merdeka Square and the front area of Fatahillah
Museum. At Merdeka Square, I saw a few soldiers in yellow, blue and red. Visitors
may take photos together with them by only donating a small amount of money.

There’s a row of ondel-ondel behind this
human statue. The word ondel-ondel refers to both large puppet and folk
performance from Betawi, Jakarta, Indonesia. Ondel-ondel the puppet is about
2.5 meters tall with ± 80 cm diameter, made of woven bamboo. Created in such a
way so that it easily lifted by one person from the inside of the puppet. Usually
dressed in bright colorful cloths, the puppet's mask face is typically made of
wood. An ondel-ondel can either be of the female or male gender. The wooden
mask of the male puppet is traditionally painted red or brown, while the female
painted white (source:Wikipedia).